Sweet
by kiwibikercookie
Summary: Even after entering high school, the members of the Raimon soccer club are still close as can be. One day, after practice, Kariya instigates a friendly game of truth or dare, and ends up daring Tsurugi to visit a local maid cafe. Tsurugi, not wanting to be subject to any taunting relating to chickens, ends up visiting just as he was asked. Kyouten and a hint of Ranmasa.


The bluenette looked up at the sickeningly sweet sign hung up on the front of the building and cringed.

Why was he ever dumb enough to accept that dare from the other day?

He remembered the scenario clearly; Kariya was the one to bring up the topic of truth or dare, of course.

Oh, he so dearly wished that the boy had transferred after junior high.

Most of the Raimon team had ended up staying together after graduating and entering high school—third years included, but by now they were all off to college.

Tsurugi himself was now a junior, along with a handful of others from Raimon. Right now, it was just another day after soccer practice.

Of course, that little devil Kariya had to shoot Tsurugi a smirk before turning to the rest of the team and brightly exclaiming, "Hey! How about a game of truth or dare? No one's busy after school, right?"

Tsurugi definitely didn't have any plans, but his opinion on matters like this usually wasn't counted by anyone due to his silent nature, and today wasn't any different. Naturally, once the game was decided, Kariya turned to Tsurugi's usual spot in the corner, and with a sugary-sweet grin gestured for him to come over.

"C'mon and join the game, Tsurugi. You don't want to be a party pooper do you?"

Tsurugi grunted and reluctantly sidled over to the group.

He did not want to be a party pooper.

For a while, the game was fine. Most of the truths and dares were typical, and Tsurugi was fine with that. As long as no one picked on him, he was okay with participating.

And then it was Kariya's turn.

The boy smiled brightly and turned to Tsurugi casually.

"Tsurugi! You haven't gone yet. Truth or dare?" he asked, a mischevious edge to his voice.

Tsurugi hit Kariya with a piercing glare. He had an idea of what Kariya would ask him if he chose truth. Probably something typical, like if he had a crush on anyone, and honestly, there was no way in hell he was answering that.

So Tsurugi made a horrible, horrible mistake, and asked Kariya for a dare.

Kariya was positively delighted with Tsurugi's choice and immediately told Tsurugi what to do.

"You know that new maid cafe downtown?" asked Kariya, smiling. "I dare you to walk in there, order something, and don't leave until you finish eating."

Tsurugi's breath hitched. What was this guy trying to pull?

"...I-I refuse," he protested, crossing his arms. Kariya snickered, leaning towards him.

"Aah? You refuse? Is our little ace striker too scared to accept my dare?" he challenged.

The other opens his mouth as if he were to make a comeback, but shuts it and stands up with a huff.

"First thing tomorrow. I'll do it," he mutters, turning and sauntering out of the room. Kariya waved after him. "Pics or it didn't happen!" he called, laughing.

Now, a day later, here he was, standing stock still in front of said maid cafe, and gravely contemplating his life choices.

After a while, he took a step forward with a sigh and placed a hand on the door.

"A dare is a dare," he said to himself, and he most certainly wasn't the type of person to give up so easily on one.

He pushed the door open, stepped in, and tried his best not to walk right back out again.

Pink. Pink everywhere: pastel pink, hot pink, fuchsia, any shade you could name, it was there. Practically the only non-pink things in the room were the dresses of the maids, which happened to be the typical color of black.

Tsurugi was truly terrified. Fear was admittedly a rather rare emotion for him—he fancied himself quite the brave soul.

But here he was, inside a maid cafe, of all places, shivering with a look of pure contempt on his face.

Suddenly, an all too familiar giggle snapped him out of his trance.

"Oh, hi, Tsurugi! ...Eheheh."

Tsurugi furrowed his brow and turned to face the person talking to him. Besides the familiar voice, they bore the frilly maid uniform, lace thigh-high stockings...and an unmistakable brunette hairstyle.

"...T-Tenma?!" he choked out incredulously, taking a step back.

Tenma gave Tsurugi a bright smile. "Yup! That's my name. I never expected a guy like you to come eating in here," he says cheerfully. "Would you mind if I called you Master? It's part of my job, so I kinda have to!"

The other male really did not know how to reply. To be honest, he wouldn't mind being called Master. It gave him...a strange feeling. He couldn't tell if it was a good or bad one, but he figured it would be best to go with his most positive instinct. Also, he wanted to see Tenma happy. He wasn't exactly sure why, but really, the boy had done so much for him...he figured it would be the least he could do.

"If you're supposed to do so...then go ahead," he muttered, looking away and slightly covering his face with a hand.

God, was this _embarrassing_.

Tenma, on the other hand, didn't seem to think so. He smiled and took Tsurugi's hand, dragging him to a table for two by a window.

"Sit down, sit down!" he says eagerly, to which Tsurugi obliged. At this point, there really wasn't anything he could do but listen to Tenma and not blush.

"Can I start you off with something to drink? Maybe a glass of water?" asked Tenma, bowing. It seemed like a polite gesture, but Tsurugi could not keep his eyes off of the flip of his skirt, which, mind you, seemed just a bit too short for comfort.

"Your dress is-" he blurted out without thinking.

 _'Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!'_

Tenma stood back up, a confused look on his face. "My dress? Is there something wrong with it? I can change it out for a new one, you know!"

Tsurugi froze, a horrified look on his face. He never expected to screw up this badly in here. All he had really planned on doing was getting something to eat and participating in absolutely no interaction with the maids.

But that obviously was not going to happen.

"Your dress...it's..." he choked out, evidently flustered. "It's...very nice."

Tenma blinked before breaking out into a grin...and clinging to Tsurugi's shoulder.

"Tenma...what are you-"

"Thank you so much, Master! Now, water's okay, right?" the brunette cooed.

Tsurugi nodded slowly but stiffly. He didn't want to risk opening his mouth again; something stupid would definitely come out.

With a giggle, Tenma let go and stood back up again as if nothing had happened. "Okay! I'll be right back, so sit tight!" he said with a wink. He turned around with a flourish and sashayed away, disappearing into the kitchen.

Tsurugi couldn't keep his eyes off of Tenma as he left. More specifically, his hips—he had no idea that such an innocent-looking boy could move them in such a...sultry manner.

God, what was he thinking? This was probably no special treatment. Tenma had offered to call him Master as part of his job, so the different walk had to be part of it too, right?

Yeah. Probably.

Before he knew it, a different maid was by his side, placing a menu and some silverware wrapped in a napkin in front of him.

"You were supposed to get these straight at the entrance, Master. I apologize f-"

The maid paused and let out a low, stressed gasp. Tsurugi looked up, and his face twisted into a look of shock.

"K-Kirino?" he snapped. "You..."

Kirino rapidly looked from side to side as if he were cornered.

"Tsurugi...?!" whimpered the pink-haired male. "Oh God, I didn't think you would actually...damn it, I have to tell him!"

Before Tsurugi could say anything more, Kirino whipped around and sprinted into the kitchen, both his pigtails and his skirt flipping up as he ran. Unfortunately, that gave Tsurugi quite the glamorous panty shot.

He cringed, flushing lightly.

He had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to forget that image for a long while.

He shook his head and turned back to his table, picking up the menu and opening it. Nothing really looked appealing to him. It was all cutesy pastries and the like, and he wasn't interested in that kind of thing.

"I recommend the strawberry angelcake," said a voice from behind him.

Tsurugi jumped and turned around to see Tenma leaning slightly over his shoulder, holding a glass of water daintily in his hand. He smiled.

"Here's your water. Are you ready to order, or do you need more time?"

Tsurugi's eyes involuntarily narrowed. He didn't like how Tenma was looking over his shoulder without notifying him, not to mention how close he was—how long had he been standing there, anyway? Why hadn't he noticed this?

"Master? Is everything okay?" asked a concerned Tenma.

Tsurugi blinked. It seemed he'd slipped off into thought without realizing it. Come to think of it, he'd done it whenever Tenma had come around in that dress of his.

The bluenette mentally shook himself and looked up at Tenma. "What you recommended is fine. I trust you know what you're talking about, Tenma."

Tenma smiled, a playful giggle escaping his lips. He leaned closer, and before Tsurugi could do anything, the other boy had affectionately brushed his lips against his cheek in somewhat of a light kiss.

Tsurugi's breath hitched, and he finally allowed himself to flush a bright crimson. He was at a loss for words, and both his thoughts and emotions were running wild beyond his control.

Was Tenma really supposed to take his job this far? Did he do this for everyone that he served here? And for God's sake, what the hell was that strange tingling he was feeling in his stomach?

Tenma seemed to have noticed Tsurugi's discomfort and gave his head a light pat. "So, should I ask for a strawberry angelcake, Master?"

Tsurugi shivered at Tenma's touch. He couldn't decide whether that was a good or a bad thing, and this time, he wanted to keep it like that.

He nodded stiffly in reply to Tenma. "Yes. That's fine," he said curtly, averting his eyes. He surely came off as rude, which might hurt Tenma, and he didn't want that. No matter how much he may deny it at some times, he harbored a lot of care for his teammate, and that was no understatement. Sometimes, he even found himself longing for the other's presence, but of course, he'd never tell him that—surely Tenma had better things to do other than spend time with him, right?

However, despite Tsurugi's actions, he heard Tenma release a soft chuckle.

"You're the same as always, Tsurugi," he said, an amused tone to his voice.

With that, he began to walk away. Tsurugi immediately looked up to ask him what exactly he meant by that, but Tenma was already nearing the kitchen, and Tsurugi didn't want to embarass himself any more by yelling across the room.

You're the same as always.

Was that a good thing? Tsurugi most definitely hoped so. He thought about what had happened during the short amount of time that had elapsed since he was first standing in front of the cafe, which was admittedly a lot. The one thing that stood out most to him, however, was the kiss Tenma had given him just moments ago. During his brief observation of the place when he had entered, he never once saw a maid acting this affectionate around a customer, even if the customer in question seemed to be asking for it.

So why had Tenma decided to do so around him, of all people?

Tsurugi turned his gaze to the window. He had never really paid much attention to the fact that Tenma had given him a window seat, and had only just now realized how pleasing the view outside was. It seems that behind the cafe there was a well-kept outdoor seating area with a beautiful garden, and he couldn't help but admire not only its looks, but all of the work that had obviously been put into it.

That same thought crossed through his mind once again: had Tenma done this all for him? This entire time he had been trying to convince himself that he was getting no special treatment from his friend, but he couldn't help but wonder.

While he gazed at the scene through the window, a small plate was placed in front of him. Tsurugi glanced down to see a small, fluffy square cake, adorned with whipped cream and a strawberry on top.

He heard the scraping of a chair being pulled, and before he knew it Tenma was sitting across from him, a light smile playing across his face.

"It tastes just as good as it looks," he says, gesturing to the cake with one hand.

Tsurugi stared at Tenma blankly for a moment before unrolling his napkin and picking up the fork that was wrapped inside it, using it to gently cut into the corner of the cake. He nonchalantly slipped a piece into his mouth, chewing it while looking down. All the while, Tenma watched him, his lighthearted expression unreadable.

After Tsurugi had swallowed, Tenma spoke up.

"Does it taste good?"

A simple question. Tsurugi really didn't know what he had been expecting. "...Yeah," he replied, nodding slightly. Tenma seemed satisfied with his response.

"Oh, that's good. Kurama looked really angry when Kirino came in and told him you were here, so I was worried he'd mess it up to annoy you," he mused casually.

Tsurugi, on the other hand, felt almost as if he should vomit his cake back up. Three of his classmates working in the same maid cafe? Did anyone else know about this?

"K-Kurama? Kurama too!?" Tsurugi sputtered at Tenma, his brow furrowed. Tenma looked surprised at his reaction.

"Oh, you didn't know? I thought Kirino told you when he gave you a menu. S-Sorry," he said, a meek smile on his face.

Tsurugi stared at Tenma, and his gaze eventually softened noticeably. "It's fine. There's no need to apologize," he reassured him.

Tenma nodded, and for a while it was silent between the two—Tsurugi just eating his cake and Tenma just watching him do so.

The petite brunette hoped he didn't seem creepy to his friend; he had a tendency to watch him silently from afar, and right now was no different. Tsurugi's appearance was honestly quite pleasing to him, and he thought the boy had quite a lovely physique. With his fair skin and curious orange eyes, Tenma fancied Tsurugi to be quite the sight to behold.

Or perhaps he just fancied him in general.

Tenma quickly shook his head to rid his mind of such thoughts, his cheeks tinted with a light pink. He'd liked Tsurugi as more than a friend for quite a while now, and was only just coming to terms with his feelings. The moment he'd heard Kariya's dare after their usual practice, he decided that he'd take advantage of his job and use it to get closer to his teammate, in a way.

Now, as he watched the taller male in front of him quietly, as per usual, he wondered if he had taken his attempts too far.

As he ate, Tsurugi was well aware of Tenma's staring. He nonchalantly realized that Tenma stared at him a lot when he had the time to, and he didn't really mind it. In fact, he was somewhat happy that Tenma devoted so much of his time to paying attention to him—it would be no lie if he had said that simply the thought of the boy was pleasing to him.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. To be more specific, a single, questioning word: love?

Tsurugi tensed up, and his grip on the fork tightened. The only person who he truly loved before now was his brother, and he would've liked to keep it that way. He figured any other person would get in the way of his frequent visits to his brother, which would definitely worry him, he thought.

But now, as he felt his teammate's gray-blue eyes watching him intently, he wondered if his feelings for Tenma really were strong enough to be called such a word.

"Tenma," said Tsurugi, still looking down at his plate. "Why...are you doing this?"

Tenma tilted his head to the side, a look of uncertainy on his face. "What do you mean?" he asked, despite knowing full well what the other meant. He couldn't help the faint pool of nervousness he felt bubbling up in his stomach—had Tsurugi noticed how differently he was acting? Did he disapprove?

Tsurugi sighed, placing his fork down on the now-empty plate. He looked up at Tenma with an excellent poker face.

"You're sitting here with me right now. You've also been a bit more...affectionate than usual," he mumbled. "Is...is there a reason for that?"

As Tsurugi spoke, his heartbeat quickened. He fought the color that he felt rising up to his cheeks, as well, although he doubted his efforts did anything due to his pale face.

Tenma took notice of this, and with a brief start wondered if their feelings for eachother were mutual. He tried his best not to get his hopes up, but failed miserably and decided to pull a bold move.

"Well, Tsurugi..." replied Tenma, glancing to the side. His smile faltered. "I, um...I like you."

"As a friend, right?" blurted Tsurugi without thinking. He immediately shut his mouth, his eyes widening. What in the world was he doing? With everything Tenma had done for him since he had entered, it would make perfect sense that his feelings were more than that. Deep down, Tsurugi knew he felt the same, but he just couldn't bring himself to accept that, much less admit it to Tenma.

Meanwhile, Tsurugi's abrupt reply worried Tenma. Had he messed up somehow? Was this...not how you'd confess to someone? He figured it would be a simple process, but he sheepishly remembered that he'd done no such thing before in his life. Come to think of it, Tsurugi was the only person he'd ever harbored such strong romantic feelings for.

"N-No, not exactly, " the brunette replied softly. "I guess...I love you would've been a better choice of words, yeah?" A nervous giggle escaped his lips.

There was that word again. 'Love.'

Tsurugi loved Tenma, too. He figured it was no use trying to deny that by now. However, love was a topic he was rather uneducated on, and he had no idea how he'd express his feelings to the other, much less tell him how he felt in the first place. A look of distress crossed his face, and he fell silent.

Tenma did not know how to reply to this. His smile dropped.

"I'm sorry," he said. It was the only thing he could think of saying at the moment.

A pang of guilt hit Tsurugi, and he made eye contact with Tenma. "Don't apologize. I didn't mean to leave you hanging like that."

Tenma smiled weakly, and once again there was silence among them. This time, Tsurugi was the one to break it. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and closed his eyes as if he were bracing himself for something.

"I feel the same," he said. He felt the color rush up to his cheeks once more, but this time he made no effort to stop it.

The moment Tsurugi made his reply Tenma felt an overwhelming wave of happiness wash over him. He really did like him back! He couldn't believe his luck. In his joyful daze he made a audacious decision:

"Will you go out with me?"

Tenma let out a gasp and covered his mouth with his hands, unbelieving that those words had come out of his own mouth. At the same time, he didn't exactly regret it. If they started going out, that would mean he could call Tsurugi his boyfriend, right? He would love that.

Tsurugi found Tenma's words shocking, yet in a sense he saw them coming from miles away. He wouldn't mind dating Tenma; in fact, he'd welcome such a close relationship with him. The boy made him feel happier than he'd ever felt before, and to say that such a person was his partner...the thought gave him a giddy feeling.

He once again took a deep breath and opened his mouth to reply.

"I would like that," he said quietly, allowing a small smile to slip onto his face. He looked over to Tenma to see that his face was positively glowing with delight, which made him smile wider. Seeing Tenma happy made him happy in turn. He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut as he heard the sound of breaking glass from across the room.

Both males looked over to see Kirino staring at the two of them incredulously, his mouth wide open. A tray was on the floor in front of him, covered in shattered ceramic mugs.

Tenma stood up quickly, turning to Tsurugi with a sheepish look on his face. "I-I'm sorry! I should probably go help with that. You can pay at the register," he says, beginning to turn away.

As if on instinct, Tsurugi bolted up and grabbed Tenma's arm, pulling him close. His face was flushed, and he bore a determined expression. Before Tenma could question him, the bluenette had gently placed his lips on his in a soft, inexperienced kiss. It lasted for about five seconds before Tsurugi let go of Tenma and looked away.

"I love you, too," he muttered before briskly walking to the register without looking back.

Tenma watched him go as if in a trance, butterflies in his stomach.

Kirino snapped him back to reality by tapping him on the shoulder, making him jump. The older boy had a meek, tired look on his face.

"Are you going to help me out like you said you would, or are you too lovestruck to move from that spot?"

Tsurugi was so flustered that he almost walked straight past the register and into a wall. He shook his head and took a shaky breath as he backtracked to find that a receipt had already been printed out.

He reached to take it, but a tanned hand snatched it up before him and crumpled it up. He looked to the person manning the register and opened his mouth to tell them off, but closed it as he saw who exactly was there.

It was Kurama, who, despite donning a maid dress as well as his tiny stature, still managed to make the irritated look on his face seem extremely condescending.

"Free of charge," said Kurama darkly, looking up at Tsurugi with an unblinking stare.

"But-" protested Tsurugi, only to get cut off.

"Free. Of. Charge," he repeated. "If you tell anyone about this, and I mean _anyone_ ," he said, hoisting himself upwards using the counter, "I will hurt you _so_ badly that your little boyfriend won't be able to recognize you at all."

Tsurugi took a step back from the short boy, who never stopped glaring at him for even a second. "I understand," he mumbled before nodding curtly and taking his leave, heading towards the entrance.

The entire time, he felt Kurama's eyes boring into him until he finally exited the cafe.

Kariya peeked out from behind a large pickup truck, watching Tsurugi leave. A triumphant grin stretched across his face, and he whipped out his cellphone, typing on it madly before putting it to his ear, snickering.

On the other side, Kirino picked up with a sigh. "Hi, Kariya," he mumbled.

"So? How was it? Did it work out as I planned?" the younger boy asked eagerly.

Kirino clicked his tongue derisively, yet Kariya's excitement made him smile. He was secretly relieved that this was a phone call and that they couldn't see eachother, otherwise he'd surely be made fun of.

"Yeah. Just as you planned, genius," he mocked. Kariya pouted.

"Don't talk like that. You just witnessed my amazing matchmaking skills firsthand," he retorted.

Without warning, a mischevious smirk slowly melted onto his face. He'd just gotten a wonderful idea.

"Speaking of matchmaking," he said casually, leaning back. "You wanna meet up downtown tomorrow? If you're free, of course."

Through the phone, Kariya heard Kirino make a noise akin to a dying kitten. He chuckled to himself as he waited for a reply from his pink-haired upperclassman.

Finally, Kirino spoke up. "Are you _asking me out_?" he asked, an evident edge to his voice. Truthfully, he'd suspected that his teammate had a thing for him for a while, and he had played around with the idea of dating Kariya more than once in his mind, yet he'd never expected Kariya himself to get him to go through with it.

"Indeed I am," came Kariya's confident reply.

On the outside, he was drenched in a cold, nervous sweat. Much like his crush, he was also very glad that this was a phone call.

"...Then it's settled," said Kirino smoothly. He recalled the crop tops that he had jokingly recieved for Christmas, and wondered casually if he'd be able to put them to good use.

Kariya pulled the phone away from his mouth briefly to let out a sigh of relief, then brought it back up. "I knew you'd say yes," he lied cockily. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

A breathy chortle was heard from Kirino. "Sure thing. Love you."

Before Kariya could say anything in reply or even fathom what had just happened, Kirino hung up on him. His face was nearly as pink as his hair, and he didn't doubt that Kariya's was the same.

Needless to say, neither of them regretted anything that happened during their exchange.


End file.
